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Several Paradise Valley students are fearful for their families’ well-being in areas severely affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Hurricane Harvey has flooded and destroyed parts of Houston, Texas in which the relatives of PV students live. Several have expressed concern about what will happen to their families as the hurricane’s effects continue to ravage Houston, as more than 50 inches of rain has pelted Houston.

“I wouldn’t want anything to happen to them,” Oscar Baca stated.

Oscar Baca has several cousins and an aunt in Texas who live in the Houston area. The youngest children are two to five years of age, which worries him even more. Oscar says that they haven’t evacuated yet, even though their neighborhood has flooded completely. According to Oscar, his family stayed under a lockdown order issued by the local government, but still hasn’t left after it was lifted. According to Oscar. He’s not sure if they’ll evacuate or if they’ll weather out the storm in their house. Still, Oscar has had contact over the phone with his family to say they are fine at the moment.

According to CNN, the Coast Guard is receiving over 1,000 calls per hour to rescue people from flooded areas.

Jamiele Gerena also had her fears about her family.“I’m worried about them being caught[in the floods] and getting hurt.”

Like Oscar, she has family in Houston, but hasn’t heard about where they are or how they’re doing. Jamiele doesn’t have contact with them regularly, which leads to her concerns about their well being. Many people have been stranded by the floodwaters, without communication to their family members like Jamiele. Her stepfather can talk to siblings in Texas, but hasn’t told her any news. Jamiele is even more anxious because she stated that she heard the storm would be swinging back around into Texas after going back into the Gulf of Mexico. She believes it will hit Houston again with the same, slow intensity it did when it first landed.

Federal officials predicted that 30,000 people will be driven into shelters by the storm.

Darin Smith, a PV security guard says that his son has told him ”that some roads gave out near him. His school has been closed for two days, and that they’ll probably cancel it the whole week.”

Darin’s son lives in Houston and attends Rice University there, but his area has escaped the path of the Hurricane, letting him stay there to watch everything unfold. The water rose and the roads just gave out near him when the Hurricane hit, according to Darin. Other parts of college campuses have been affected too, according to Darin. The Rice football team has relocated from their campus to Fort Worth, Darin says. Rice University was affected heavily by the Hurricane and will remain closed until after September fourth, according to emergency.rice.edu.

“I would like to know how to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey,”stated AshliAnn Solomon, a student at PV.

None of her family living in Texas is affected by Harvey, but she would still like to help those who are caught in the path However, AshliAnn doesn’t know how.

The Red Cross is collecting donations online for the victims of Hurricane Harvey and other organizations are also fundraising for Houston.

Paradise Valley Students can text 90999 to donate $10 through the Red Cross. The Salvation Army is also taking donations by texting STORM to 51555. Local organizations are also collecting donations. The Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, run by Houston’s Mayor, is the closest to the disaster and is taking donations over the website.

Overall, Paradise Valley students who have relatives in PV are concerned about how their families are faring with the flooding and rain. The best thing to do for those who are worried is to contact their families and give donations to help all those affected by Hurricane Harvey.